Working World

I was talking yesterday with Nancy Gilboy, president of the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia, and she mentioned that a young family friend was looking for an abroad experience teaching English in South America, hopefully Peru. He wanted to know how and where he could find a program that would provide him with TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification and then place him abroad, so Nancy asked me for some guidance.

I’m certainly not an expert on the topic, but I know that many English teaching positions abroad (both volunteer and paid, but especially volunteer) do not require any kind of certification. But, from what I’ve heard anecdotally, having a TEFL certificate does make you more marketable for paid positions (not to mention that it actually trains you to be an English teacher, which is not as easy as it sounds—after being plopped down in a classroom in a small town in northeast China with only a pat on the back as my training, I realized a little more guidance as to what the hell I was doing would have been nice; teaching English is not as easy as being able to speak it…but I digress).

None of this is to put forth an opinion about whether a certificate is the way to go—I’m not qualified enough to say yes, get one, or no, you don’t need one. It also needs to be pointed out that TEFL certificates cost—in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. This might be a determining factor for some (I know I wouldn’t have been able to spend this money just out of college, but perhaps it’s a solid investment if it leads to a good, paid gig). I’d be very interested to hear opinions on this from those more in the know than me.

Even so, I do have a few resources that should prove useful for Nancy’s friend and others looking into teaching abroad/TEFL certification:

• Start with the incomparable Dave’s ESL Cafe. This site has been around for awhile—it was the go-to resource for expats teaching abroad even six years ago when I was teaching in China. Since then it has only gotten better, and bigger. A slew of English teaching positions worldwide are posted daily. More information about TEFL certificate courses can be found, and the message boards might be a great place for some further research on whether a TEFL certificate is needed or recommended.
• Then go to Transitions Abroad, which has a voluminous list of programs offering the four-week TEFL certificate course and either direct placement in a teaching position or at least placement assistance.

In addition:

• The International Teacher Training Organization seems like a solid resource to do some further research and/or get TEFL certification and then placement.
• I’ve heard the Oxford Seminars are reputable for TEFL certificates and are offered at many locations throughout the U.S.
• UPDATE: Via Smart Study Abroad comes a recommendation for this new book: Teaching English Abroad: A Fresh and Fully Updated Guide to Teaching English Around the World by Susan Griffith. I don’t know much about it but it looks like a useful resource. My only worry for Americans is that the book might be more UK-centric, but I have no basis for that other than that it’s published in the UK. It’s probably worth a look.

After the jump, a few quick definitions for those who get confused about the different between TEFL and TESL and TESOL (like me).

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I’ve been meaning for some time to write about an article by Karin Fischer I came across in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscribers only, sorry) examining the idea that short term study abroad experiences can have just as much of an effect on participants as long term ones. I’ve written about this topic before (as well as the related topic of single country v. multicountry study abroad), and I’m still not sure how I feel. As someone who has had two long term (one year plus) experiences abroad, I’m definitely partial to long term programs and the immersive benefits they bring. On the other hand, I am a proponent of abroad experiences of all kinds, so I would much rather see a student do a four-week program than no program at all. I guess I pretty much agree with Dr. Fry, whom Karin quotes:

The length of time students study overseas has no significant impact on whether they become globally engaged later in life, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a conclusion that is sure to add fuel to the already fiery debate over the efficacy of increasingly popular short-term study-abroad programs.

The findings of the Study Abroad for Global Engagement project…suggest that students who go overseas for a short period of time, four weeks or less, are just as likely as those who study abroad for several months or even a year to be globally engaged.

“It’s both exciting and disappointing,” said Gerald W. Fry, a professor of international-development education at Minnesota and one of the study’s principal investigators. “On one hand, you’d hope that studying in a country for a long period of time would be particularly meaningful.” On the other, he said, the study’s findings suggest that “if it’s done right, if it’s done with intensity of learning, a short-term program can have impact.”

Karin goes on to write:

More startling, and potentially more controversial, is the finding that program duration, in and of itself, seems to matter little in predicting long-term global engagement.

Short-term programs, which are typically led by faculty members, have been rising in popularity, but skeptics have criticized them as being little more than cultural tourism, saying that in many of them students spend most of their time with other Americans and have little opportunity to immerse themselves in the local culture.

Advocates for such trips counter that they help make overseas study possible for students who might not be able to commit the time or have the financial resources to study for a semester or more.

Mr. Fry, who leads a short-term program to Thailand, said the study suggests that a more complex combination of factors makes a program effective. He and his colleagues hope to further mine the data to examine the interrelationship of a number of variables, such as whether students studied with other Americans or with foreign students.

In the end, I think, it seems we should just be happy that 1) more and more short term study abroad programs are transcending the “cultural tourism” label and being designed as effective, immersive experiences, and 2) more and more students are indeed going abroad—and if a short term experience is all that they want/have time for/can afford, then certainly no one should deny them that.

I actually wrote about David Comp and his indispensable International Higher Education Consulting blog two days ago, and yesterday David more than returned the favor with a fantastic post on Working World, both the book and the blog. What I like most about his post is that he really gets at what we’re trying to do:

Working World blog not only provides well written and insightful posts on career development and planning but it also offers excellent and timely pieces on the field itself which engages readers on a second level (meaning you don’t need to be on the market for a new job to benefit from the content on Working World blog).

That “second level” David mentions is a critical component of building a career (in our fields and in all fields), but one that is often forgotten in the world of career advice. I’ve ranted on this before: I don’t like that many career advice columns and blog posts often boil a subject down to trite lists— 12 strategies for overcoming shyness, 5 ways to beat the economic downturn, 37 steps to a new you. In such lists there is no focus on building a career or what it means to be engaged in the field in which you want to build that career. Rather it is only the author passing on his or her divinely-inspired wisdom to you, the humble reader, no further discussion needed. But things don’t boil down into numbered sets and whatever any one writer has to say about any one subject is never the last word. There are always other opinions and angles to be considered, other aspects to be learned. Sherry and I have always tried to stray away from giving this kind of tidy, no-further-argument-needed advice and to examine these fields as a whole—both issues in career development and issues that affect the fields at large. I appreciate David recognizing this and noting it.

And as he says about us, I’ll say about him: David’s posts are timely and insightful and required reading for those interested in building, or those already building, a career in international education, exchange, and development.  His sites are in our blogroll, so check them out, then check back regularly.

David Comp left an insightful comment on my previous post on the International Blogger job, which reminded me that I wanted to write on David and his two blogs:

International Higher Education Consulting blog: David writes here, providing “timely news and informational pieces that are of interest to both the international education and public diplomacy communities. From time to time, International Higher Education Consulting Blog will post thought provoking pieces to challenge readers and to encourage comments and professional dialogue.”

International Education Blogs and News: This is a new project for David, just launched on February 23—it’s essentially a compilation of feeds from a variety of blogs covering international education (including Working World). An interesting and efficient way to see what’s being said out there on the topic of international education.

Many thanks to David for his work on both of these projects (which I discovered through my work at the Alliance and now check regularly for news and updates—I recommend you check them out), as well as for his support of Working World.

Now, after the jump, David’s comment on social networking as a skill—he’s with me, that Facebook by itself isn’t a skill, but deep experience with “strategizing and then implementing an effective communication plan/objective” within a social networking framework certainly can be a skill:

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Via MountainRunner, I came across several open international positions with Orbitus (a company I know nothing about but that looks like a government consulting firm), the most intriguing of which is “International Blogger.”  Responsibilities include:

Engag[ing] global audiences online in discussions pertaining to American culture, society and foreign policy via social networking forums, blogs and chat rooms in an effort to further dialogue and promote common understanding and cultural exchange.

The first qualification is: “Experience with blogging and social networking applications.” This, of course, brings me back to the question debated last week of whether social networking is a skill. While I tended to think that, in relation to the right job and presented in the proper way, experience with social networking could be a marketable skill, I was duly shot down by two commenters who noted that accumulating 1,000 friends on Facebook is not a skill. Which I totally agree with, though my point was that, if you’re going to market social networking as a skill, you’ll need to show that you have far more experience with the tools than the common Facebook user.  Certainly the Orbitus job expects that a qualified applicant can do much more with social networking tools than simply set up a Facebook account and get friends. I’m not entirely sure what that ‘much more’ is, but my point still stands, I think.

Anyway, in addition to International Blogger, Orbitus is also advertising for International Media Analyst, International Producer, and International Speaker. All of these sound intriguing. The first requirement for International Speaker is “charisma.”

Another interesting point that Matt Armstrong at MountainRunner points out: all of these job descriptions (the whole Orbitus site, in fact) are posted as images instead of text. I’ve never seen anyone do this before—Matt points out it’s presumably so Google can’t pick them up. Perhaps Orbitus is a secret government agency? Or maybe they just don’t want tons of crap resumes from any old schmo who thinks he’s good just because he knows how to Facebook. Either way, apply if you’re interested.

Joanne Tay wonders if the fact that President Obama is a “diplomat at heart” is having a “trickle down effect” on Americans, spurring us to “realize the importance of reaching out through dialogue.” I hope she’s right.

Also, having recently graduated from the University of Melbourne, Joanne posted eloquently on the depression, uncertainty, and fear that comes with post-college life and the shitty feeling that she’s now expected to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. Joanne’s passion is in theater, and she faces a dilemma that many who want to pursue an international career often encounter: following what we know we love versus following what is deemed for us (often by our families) as a more “practical” career:

At my age (no longer that young, that is), I wonder if I should pursue what I want to do, or start from scratch here – through volunteer work. The problem of money gnaws me everyday, but I don’t want to be bound by the same fear that has fettered me the last three years. That typical ultra-pragmatic Singaporean mindset still keeps me imprisoned in fear – I dared not study theatre for want of something more secure (by doing an arts degree, yeah, how smart and practical huh) – and i still have that massive debt on my shoulders. But no matter how far i run from theatre, I come back to it, my first love. The stage is an inescapable draw. What should I do?

I say, if you can’t escape the draw, then why try? Just let it draw you.

It’s going to take me some time to get warmed up this Monday morning, so let’s start easy with two international organizations:

One: Study Abroad Alumni International

The purpose of this group is to “build a community of global citizens” among U.S. citizens who have studied abroad. SAAI is an “international membership organization consisting of alumni of some type of study abroad experience and others who actively support the study abroad experience.” This is a relatively new group, but Sherry is a member of the Advisory Board, so I would expect that many good things are imminent. (SAAI also has a LinkedIn.com group that might be worth getting on board with.)

Two: International Institute of Peace Through Tourism

Courtesy of Joanne Tay, IIPT is “a not for profit organization dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.” Internship and volunteer opportunities are available at the IIPT headquarters in Stowe, Vermont.

TwinCities.com reports that the failing economy, along with the promise of new partnerships abroad the Obama admininstration brings, is leading many young people to pursue the Foreign Service. What I liked in this article, even more than the fact that so many people are interested in serving abroad that the Foreign Service exam reached its “worldwide scheduling limit” in February, is that young Americans who don’t have extensive experience overseas (and who often live in smaller, less “international” American cities) are feeling the call to pursue a career in international affairs:

“People are getting more excited about foreign policy,” said Erica Tun, a 24-year-old public-relations specialist from Fort Wayne, Ind., who registered to take the exam this month. “There is a president who is interested in making the nation more global.”

Tun, who has applied for a position in the public diplomacy track, which focuses on defining America’s image abroad, first considered the Foreign Service just a few months ago, when she found an online job posting as the presidential election reached a fever pitch.

“It piqued my curiosity,” she said. “I always had the interest but didn’t have a way to focus my energy.”

For Tun, who has not traveled beyond the Virgin Islands and Canada, the Foreign Service represents an opportunity to explore the world beyond her hometown.

I was discussing recently with Lauren Jacobs, program specialist the USDA International Institute, the appeal (if any) of listing “social networking” as a skill on your resume. Lauren pointed out that almost every organization is starting a blog/a Twitter account/a Facebook group, etc. The question then becomes: do these organizations assume that if you’re applying for a job with them and of a certain age (i.e., young), then you’re automatically proficient in this kind of social networking? Lauren’s thought was not necessarily to “advertise one’s Facebook prowess as an elite skill,” but rather, if you have it, to perhaps highlight your experience with social networking in your resume/cover letter as something that is a very useful and marketable skill.

I think she’s on to something. Young professionals in all fields, including international ones, can really make themselves indispensable to a small organization by expertly guiding it in its use of social networking.  Certainly, as Lauren said, everyone is jumping on the social networking bandwagon.  But that doesn’t mean organizations know how to use these tools effectively. So if you do know how to use social networking as an effective organizational tool, should it be on your resume?

On the one hand, as Lauren points out, “proficient in Facebook” is about as silly a skill to list on your resume as “jogging”—these aren’t skills; these are hobbies. But to put on your resume/in your cover letter that you have actual, substantive experience and skill with not only setting up an organizational presence in a social networking site, but effectively managing and utilizing that presence for the benefit of the organization?  That might be something worth highlighting, especially if the job calls for it, like the job that Lauren noticed floating around the USDA for an E-Marketing Specialist that called for:

Familiarity with Web-based technology, internet trends and social media tools (blogs, wikis, twitter, etc.)

It’s true most people are “familiar” with these things in the way that I am familiar with my tax return—I know that it exists and it’s something I can/should do, but it doesn’t mean I have any idea how to do it well. So I think Lauren’s point is that social networking might be a good skill to highlight if you truly have a deep understanding of social media and how to use it for the benefit of an organization, especially a small international nonprofit that could benefit from the savvy of a young professional who knows how to utilize free technology to make a deep impact. But I think you really need to school yourself in such intricacies and that involves a whole lot more knowledge and experience than updating your status every hour, posting unsightly photos, and tagging far too many of your friends in that damn “25 Things” craze. If that’s all you’ve got, you might want to keep that off the resume.

Any other opinions out there? Is social networking a skill? How can it be utilized for international organizations or to help further your international career?

Or they wouldn’t have sent me three emails in the past week trying to get me to pay between $24.95 and $39.95 to have access to Doostang Premium, which they promise me will lead to “premium jobs” and “elite opportunities.” I am still so not at all attracted to using Doostang as a career networking/job search tool, not only for the reasons previously discussed here and here, but also because they seem to think that my idea of a premium job is either, and only, Alternative Assets Analyst or Private Equity Senior Associate. Not that there’s anything wrong with these jobs, but not only do they not interest me personally in any way (which my Doostang profile should tell them), but as someone who writes on careers in international affairs, I’ll admit I bristle at the Doostang notion that the only jobs worthy of the premium label are those in finance and/or corporate consulting.

Reader DivaDivine is also not impressed with Doostang and its Presumption of the Premium:

I joined Doostang almost 3 years ago and never paid it any attention. Back then, you could search and apply for jobs for free. Now, they’re charging a ridiculous sum to even find out which of their Elite companies are hiring. Give me a break. I’m canceling my membership TODAY.

Speaking of premium, if only we could all be unequivocally tall and premium dancers like Alex:

My good friend Geoff Gloeckler, a staff editor at BusinessWeek, passed along his interview with the Dean of the Farmer School of Business at Miami University, Roger Jenkins, with these words: ‘this video might be of interest to you, especially the end.’ Indeed—in the last two minutes of the interview, Dean Jenkins basically makes the case I wish I’d been able to make when trying to convince my parents that my plan to spend a year in China was not just a waste of time or a way to put off the inevitable.  Says Dean Jenkins:

The particular option that I personally…that my faculty and alumni are aggressively encouraging our students to think about is the international option. At the Farmer School, we’ve been very aggressive globalizing the curriculum, the students, the faculty. We’ve been very aggressive in setting up exchange programs around the world, particularly focused on China and Asia.  And even before this crisis hit, a lot of our graduates would see the wisdom of spending a year in China, teaching English, learning Mandarin, learning the culture. And now this crisis has hit, a larger, larger number are saying ‘This is the perfect time to add to my resume, to add to my skill sets, and come back being much more marketable than when I left. And at the end of the day, this has been a great thing for me because it forced me to step beyond my comfort range and forced me to get beyond the comfort of geography and so forth and really make myself more marketable’…We live in a small world, a seamless world, and the global is a part of that.

Note that for Dean Jenkins—the dean of a business school—an abroad experience for his students is not just a throwaway, but rather a necessary thing in a globalized world, a way to “add to my resume, to add to my skill sets, and come back being much more marketable than when I left.” It’s certainly proven true for me, and for many many others, whether they are working in the fields of international education, exchange, and development or some other field, that an experience abroad has not only had a deeply formative effect, but has also made us more marketable and added to our resumes in very substantive ways. And all this despite that fact that many of us didn’t know exactly what kind of specific career benefit our time abroad would have.

So for all of you struggling with your parents and trying to convince them that going abroad is in fact not only what you want to do, but also a good thing for your career, put them in touch with Dean Jenkins (or at least forward them Geoff’s interview).

I was happy to see this Career Couch article in the NY Times reminding us that the cover letter is not expendable when applying for a job:

Cover letters are a graceful way to introduce yourself, to convey your personality and to impress a hiring manager with your experience and your writing skill.

They are also the perfect vehicle for telling your story. One of the most common mistakes in a cover letter (other than sending out a poorly-formatted, typo-laden, and/or generic letter—always, always, ALWAYS tailor every letter for every job you apply for—form letters will get you nowhere) is simply repeating what is in your resume in paragraph form.  Don’t just repeat the jobs, internships, and other experiences you’ve had—that’s all right there in your resume.  Rather, draw your experiences together for the person reading your resume. Don’t leave it to the hiring committee to make conclusions about you and your experience and your suitability for the job—do it for them. Tell your story and show them how the things you’ve done and the person you are make you an ideal candidate for this particular position.

One further point for international career seekers: when attempting to convey in a cover letter why you want to work for that particular organization, simply pointing out that you are interested in international stuff and they do international stuff is not enough. I can’t count the number of times, as NCIV’s internship coordinator, I was put off by cover letters that reeked of the obvious truth that the person was only applying for a position with us because we had the word “international” in our org name.

Rather, make a compelling case in each cover letter why this organization and its mission, and then this specific position within the organization, are particularly suited to your international interests. The more you can show that, yes, you are an internationalist but that you are also extremely drawn to this particular organization and its cause, the more likely your cover letter will be noticed.